1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the retail prepaid card industry. More specifically, the present invention relates the field of issuing retail prepaid cards including a user-designed external face using a chit, where the chit is defined by an identification mechanism representing a financial commitment to issue a retail prepaid card in an amount associated with a value paid for the chit.
2. Description of Related Art
As retail establishments, such as department stores, discount stores, grocery stores, shopping centers, chain stores and restaurants transition from electronic cash register systems to Internet-enabled point-of-sale systems, the availability of, and demand for, closed-loop retail prepaid cards, otherwise known as gift cards, has increased dramatically. Where retail establishments once relied on paper gift certificates signed by the merchant and redeemable only by the presentation of the paper certificate, most retail establishments now use electronic closed-loop retail prepaid cards that can be redeemed both in person and over the Internet for products and services. Today, retail-prepaid cards are highly popular and rank as the second-most common gift given by consumers in the United States, according to a study conducted by Consumer's Union in 2007. Moreover, in the same study, retail prepaid cards ranked as the most-wanted gift by women and the third-most wanted gift by men.
Retail prepaid cards have become increasingly popular in part because the gift of a retail prepaid card relieves the donor of the task of selecting a specific gift. In other words, the gift of a retail prepaid card releases the donor from the stress that accompanies the search for the perfect individual gift because the recipient can now select his or her favorite gift from the selection of merchandise and services offered by the particular retail establishment associated with the given retail prepaid card. Nevertheless, the gift of retail prepaid cards is widely criticized as impersonal or not thoughtful. Giving a good gift is often difficult because it requires thought regarding the recipient's tastes, personality, style, and needs, among other criteria. A retail prepaid card may avoid the fear of giving a bad gift, but to some, it does so in a remote and sterile manner.
Specifically, most retail prepaid cards are physically designed such that an image selected by the associated retail establishment is printed on the external face of the card along with the logo of the particular associated retail establishment and a retail prepaid card identification number. For example, a retail prepaid card for a steakhouse may feature a picture of a steak on the grill, the name of the steakhouse, and a retail prepaid card identification number. Other retail establishments, such as a discount store, for instance, may sell several differently designed retail prepaid cards that each feature a different select image such as one of the store's inventory or a novelty image such as a birthday hat and streamers on retail prepaid cards intended to be purchased as birthday gifts. Accordingly, purchasers of retail prepaid cards are often forced to select from a narrow assortment of impersonal external designs, and purchasers have no ability to design the retail prepaid card to reflect their personal tastes or the personality and preferences of the intended recipient.
Additionally, present retail prepaid card systems often limit customers to subset of pre-designed retail prepaid cards that are in stock at the retail storefront when the customer seeks to make the purchase. For instance, a retail establishment may have thirty different retail prepaid card designs but at any given time, may only have 5 different designs in stock at the retail storefront. For example, a customer seeking a retail prepaid card as a gift for a boy's birthday would likely not be satisfied with pre-designed retail prepaid cards featuring pink balloons, wedding rings, dolls, a kitchen knife set, or jewelry. Keeping the full range of pre-designed retail prepaid card external face designs in stock may be prohibitively expensive for retail establishments and may not be a resourceful use of shelf space.
Alternatively, a consumer can purchase a retail prepaid card from a retail establishment's Internet website. While some consumers may be able to find a retail prepaid card that meets their criteria when provided with the full range of pre-designed retail prepaid cards for selection and purchase, others customers will continue to suffer from the inability to design the external face of a retail prepaid card that meets their personal tastes or the personality and preferences of the intended recipient. Moreover, in the case of an Internet website, retail establishments may lose sales attributed to impulse purchases, that is, those purchases a consumer makes after seeing an item, such as a retail prepaid card, on display at a retail storefront. Accordingly, recognized is the need for systems, computer program product, and related computer implemented methods to issue a retail prepaid card in a manner which provides the purchaser with the opportunity to design the appearance of the external face of the retail prepaid card while at the same time maintaining or even increasing the revenue of the retail establishment derived from the in-store sale of retail prepaid cards, including sales attributed to impulse purchases.